Fox Gets Incarceron-ated

After a bidding war, Fox 2000 has won the rights to Catherine Fisher's young-adult book Incarceron, which the studio is hoping to turn into a "dystopian fantasy." Is that an oxymoron?

Variety has the report on the project, which will be produced by John Palermo via his and Hugh Jackman's Seed Prods. Incarceron is going out to directors and screenwriters now.

The 2007 U.K. book was published just three weeks ago in the U.S., immediately landing on The New York Times' children's bestsellers list. It's about a boy who lives in a prison that "is a complete society," explains the trade. "Outside the prison, the world is stuck in the 17th century and run by computers. The boy comes into contact with the warden's daughter, who lives in her own sort of jail, and they find a key that can change everything."

A sequel to the book, which has an equally unpronounceable name (Sapphique) is due out in the U.S. next January.